[Herald Pop (now Herald Muse)]
[Herald Pop (now Herald Muse)]

Singer MC Mong has apologized over his public allegations against actor Kim Min-jong.

During a live broadcast Saturday, MC Mong said mentioning Kim Min-jong in the first place had been his own mistake and apologized for doing so.

He also apologized for causing misunderstandings and said he would accept whatever news coverage came his way going forward.

MC Mong said he had met Kim Min-jong in person that day and spoken with him directly. When a viewer asked whether Kim had actually engaged in gambling, MC Mong said the two had resolved the misunderstanding, adding that Kim had hugged him warmly during the meeting. He brought up the encounter again near the end of the broadcast and expressed his gratitude.

During a live broadcast on May 18, MC Mong claimed that an illegal gambling ring existed, centered on a man surnamed Cha — the uncle of One Hundred Chairman Cha Ga-won. In the same broadcast, he named Kim Min-jong directly, alleging that Kim had been a member of the group and had received and spent pocket money from Cha.

Kim denied the allegations as groundless and announced plans for legal action. On Tuesday, through his legal representatives at law firm O'Kims, Kim filed a complaint against MC Mong at the Seoul Jongno Police Station on charges of defamation under the Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection.

Kim's representatives said the allegations had damaged the reputation and trust he had built since his debut in 1988, and that he had suffered tangible losses — including the suspension of a planned Hollywood project and two advertising deals that had been under negotiation.

Even shortly after Kim filed the complaint, MC Mong showed little sign of backing down. During a live broadcast Thursday with other broadcast jockeys, when Kim's complaint came up, MC Mong said, "Getting sued once or twice is nothing. It's no big deal."


min3654@heraldcorp.com